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Vincent Oriedo, a biotechnology scientist, had just such a question. What lessons have been learned, he asked, from Harris’s defeat in this vital swing county in a crucial battleground state that voted for Joe Biden four years ago, and how are the Democrats applying them?

“They did not answer the question,” he said.

“It tells me that they haven’t learned the lessons and they have their inner state of denial. I’ve been paying careful attention to the influencers within the Democratic party. Their discussions have centred around, ‘If only we messaged better, if only we had a better candidate, if only we did all these superficial things.’ There is really a lack of understanding that they are losing their base, losing constituencies they are taking for granted.”

“We have set ourselves up for generational loss because we keep promoting from within leaders that that do not criticise the moneyed interests. They refuse to take a hard look at what Americans actually believe and meet those needs.”

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[-] XOXOX@lemmy.world 0 points 1 month ago

SHE HAS A VAGINA. THAT'S ALL IT TOOK. DEMOCRATS DIDN'T MISS THE MARK. SHE JUST HAS A VAGINA AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC WONT PUT ANYONE WITH A VAGINA IN THE WHITEHOUSE.

[-] Th4tGuyII@fedia.io 1 points 1 month ago

You're literally doing exactly what this post complains about. The overwhelming sentiment of Harris replacing Biden was change - her campaign ran on that - yet she had basically all the same stances/policies a Biden, especially where it mattered to the voterbase (I.e. Gaza). She had an opportunity to diverge from Biden's less popular platform, but chose not to, and it cost her the election. That's the rub.

As for 2016 - people did turn out for Hilary. She won the popular vote by a significantly higher margin than Harris.

And as for 2020, Biden only won so easily because Trump's woefully incompetent response to Covid19 was still in recent memory - and even that still resulted in a smaller margin than Obama's first term.

[-] BadmanDan@lemmy.world 0 points 1 month ago

Biden got 81 million votes, hasn’t been done since.

[-] Th4tGuyII@fedia.io 1 points 1 month ago

Firstly, I should clarify that I'm looking at % margin, not absolute, as it better accounts for voter turnout.

Secondly, if you want to go by absolute votes, then it's worth noting that more people voted for Harris than voted for Hillary or Obama (who both won the popular vote).

She had the 3rd highest vote count in history, but that means nothing when she lost to Trump with the 2nd highest vote count in history.

She was battling Trump at the height of his popularity and needed the same turnout as 2020 Biden, but that simply wasn't going to happen. As I said previously 2020 Biden had Covid19 on his side, and didn't have the baggage of this election (I.e. Gaza).

Biden abdicating his candidacy to Harris was a brilliant opportunity for her to lift off the baggage Biden was carrying into the 2024 election (which he was predicted to lose), but she didn't - and as such she lost as predicted.

Her loss had nothing to do with her being a woman, and much more to do with Democrats being out of touch and relying on Republican fearmongering to get people to turn out.

[-] NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 1 points 1 month ago

People stayed home because of Gaza and the economy but yeah it's definitely because Harris is a woman.

[-] rigatti@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

It's a combination of all of those factors, plus others. People try to point to one thing, but a whole bunch of people didn't vote for her for a whole bunch of reasons.

[-] Zaktor@sopuli.xyz 1 points 1 month ago

Yeah, in 2016 it was so close any singular failing could have been the one that turned a win to a loss, but after this last one it's multiple.

And they all sort of reinforce themselves. Seeing Democrats abandon one political principle and then seeing them being weak on one that's close to home will make you less willing to accept it's just a messaging choice. And all of that on top of the general economic malaise and lack of punishment for bad people in positions of power and something you might have let go becomes the final straw.

[-] GBU_28@lemm.ee 0 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Gaza holds no water, kushner and Jr were on record for seeking to build condos in gaza once it was "cleared out"

[-] NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 1 points 1 month ago

And yet Trump toured Michigan promising (and making good on said promise, surprisingly) an end to the war.

[-] GBU_28@lemm.ee 0 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

And he just launched a meme coin opening at 25 bln. Apparently rubes live on both sides of the aisle.

Raids start next week.

Edit to think he "made good" is a joke. Some conversation from him had nothing to do with months of diplomatic work from real professionals. Biden is still in office btw and any "deals" would have to go through him.

[-] Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

Some conversation from him had nothing to do with months of diplomatic work from real professionals.

"You don't see all the work going on behind the scenes" is Democrats' "You don't know my totally real girlfriend. She goes to another school."

[-] enbyecho@lemmy.world -1 points 1 month ago

How many voters do you think can find Gaza on a map?

But they sure can see that Harris is a woman.

Its more like: "I voted Biden last time and grocerry prices didn't get lower, oh well I might as well stay home this time since voting didn't change anything 🤷‍♂️"

[-] enbyecho@lemmy.world -1 points 1 month ago

"didn't change anything"

  • "that mattered to me personally"

Which is exactly how you know that all the hand-waving over Israel is largely performative. If you are not affected by domestic issues and the Really Bad Shit about to hit the fan then you can afford to be Very Very Concerned about issues that don't affect you directly and personally.

Not all of us have that luxury.

[-] NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 0 points 1 month ago

You'll find many outlets reporting on this all citing the same poll, but here's one.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/harris-gaza

[-] enbyecho@lemmy.world -1 points 1 month ago

LOL. Nice headline there. Not biased at all nope.

Harris didn't "back" Israel's genocide. She just failed to be sufficiently performative in her condemnation of it and failed to distance herself from her own administrations pro-Israeli policies. If you think that's not all hand-waving and that somehow Trump will be less supportive of Israel's genocide I have some gold colored sneakers for sale.

She did condemn it to be sure, but not enough to pass the purity test of those here in the US who felt that that acting against that genocide was far and away more important than preventing Americas rapid descent into a Christo-fascist oligarchy. Which, not incidentally, will happily support Israel's complete and total erasure of the Palestinian people.

Well done! Good job!

[-] XOXOX@lemmy.world -2 points 1 month ago

They did-fucking-not. They stayed home because she's a woman. Just like they did in 2016. End of fucking story. The rest is just political writers needing clicks to survive.

Lol Hillary won the popular vote despite a decade of being attacked by the media. Hillary would've been president if it were not for the electoral college. Harris didn't even have a decade long attack by the media, has somewhat of a momentum when Biden dropped out, and the Tim Walz pick also gained momentum, and there were lots of grassroot donations on the day of Biden dropping out. Still managed to perform worse than Hillary, didn't even win the popular vote.

[-] TheFonz@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

This is bait haha no way it's real

Not really. Even Hillary won the popular vote (only didn't become president due to the outdated electoral college), Harris just sucks.

I mean, Hillary also had a lot of baggage, decade of being attacked by the media, still won popular vote. The media didn't really have a decade to trash Harris' reputation, but she still did worse than Hillary.

[-] Kaboom@reddthat.com -2 points 1 month ago

Hillary did have the Clinton name. Whether that helped or hurt, we don't know, but it was a factor

[-] WhatYouNeed@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

You're wrong: the biggest cunt is going into the Whitehouse

[-] Quill7513@slrpnk.net -1 points 1 month ago

yeah funny how the dems can turn out for a joe biden who sucks in 2020 but not for a hillary clinton or a kamala harris who suck in 2016 and 2024. like yes, people sat out for a wide host of reasons, but there's a very glaring pattern that's very easy to see

[-] NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 1 points 1 month ago

Biden ran on progressive economic policy and a generally satisfactory platform. People had a problem with his age, but he didn't suck, not in the same way Harris and Hillary did.

[-] Quill7513@slrpnk.net -1 points 1 month ago

the lack of criticism for how centrist and shitty joe biden, just like hillary and kamala, is kind of exactly what i'm talking talking about. they all three suck in basically all the exact same ways. of all the candidates to run in 2020 primaries, he was basically the worst one. kamala was actually more progressive than him. but yet, here we are. arguing that he ran left of Kamala's 2024 bid. and before you bring up palestine, they've all been shit on that subject since 2006 at least, so drop it. that's not why kamala lost at the end of the day. it's that joe biden was allowed to win as a mediocre white man in 2020, but kamala had to do everything perfect to be viable in the eyes of those 19 million voters who stayed home, especially in the swing states where people absolutely mobilized to get out the vote for an overtly fascistic and racist orange candidate

[-] NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 1 points 1 month ago

they all three suck in basically all the exact same ways.

No they didn't. Biden ran on progressive policy written by Sanders; Harris ran on including Republicans in her cabinet and finishing the border wall.

so drop it.

No I won't. 29% of people who voted Biden in 2020 and stayed home in 2024 cited it as the top reason they stayed home. It is part of the reason Harris lost because she didn't promise to do anything different from Biden while Trump did (and seemingly kept his promise for once).

[-] XOXOX@lemmy.world -1 points 1 month ago

BIDEN IS A TALL WHITE MAN. THAT'S WHY HE WON. THAT'S WHAT IT TAKES TO WIN IN THIS IDIOT INFESTED COUNTY.

  1. MAN
  2. WHITE
  3. TALL

NOTHING ELSE MATTERS.

[-] Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

You learned nothing.

[-] queermunist@lemmy.ml 0 points 1 month ago

Obama was president for eight years.

[-] XOXOX@lemmy.world -1 points 1 month ago

SEE NUMBERS 1 AND 3 ABOVE.

this post was submitted on 18 Jan 2025
130 points (95.8% liked)

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